


Droplets of Water

by GamblingDementor



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Pregnancy, Slice of Life, Trans Sonny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 16:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10857867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamblingDementor/pseuds/GamblingDementor
Summary: A lifetime of friendship between Usnavi and Nina, from the time she was born. Platonic.





	Droplets of Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niceboulder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niceboulder/gifts).



> This fic was inspired by
> 
> [this gorgeous art](http://boopliette.tumblr.com/post/157531422030/lil-nina-and-lil-usnavi-have-somewhere-fancy-to-be)
> 
> drawn by boopliette on Tumblr and for this reason, I dedicate this fic to her. 
> 
> As per a couple fics I've already written in this format, this has one anecdote for every year they've been friends. Note: Usnavi is five years older than Nina, and Sonny is three years younger than her.

Señora Rosario from Rosarios across the street is going to have a baby. Abuela Claudia said so, and she knows everything about everyone so she can never be wrong, not on this. Usnavi _loves_ babies. They say he was only a baby himself not too long ago, but he's four now and he can't ever remember being a baby. He timidly asks Señora Rosario when the stork is going to deliver it and if he can play with the baby once it's here. She laughs, pats his head and tells him that she's going to deliver the baby herself, thank you very much. Usnavi doesn't really understand what she means until a couple months later, her belly starts getting big and bigger every day, with an actual little baby in it. She kneels down to let him touch the bump and sometimes, just sometimes, the baby kicks for him. He knows they're going to be best friends.

 

0

 

Usnavi heard that babies are smelly and loud, but Nina is anything but that when he's allowed to hold her. She's small and her hair is thin and wavy and she smells awesome, even better than coffee, and sometimes she wraps her tiny baby hand around his thumb and squeezes tight. She can't talk yet, but he talks enough for both of them. He loves parading her around the bodega whenever the Rosarios come visit, make her look at the shelves, the people, all his friends from the block. The Rosarios show her off to everyone and Usnavi is as proud as they are. Sometimes, Nina spends time at Abuela Claudia's, her assigned babysitter, and he always begs his parents to go as well because he wants to play with the baby. He never knew he could be this interested in someone who does nothing but look at him and coo and smile. But no smile has ever been as pretty as Nina's toothless one.

 

1

 

Words don't make sense to Usnavi when they're on the page. Their shapes are weird and the letters are wrong and the teacher says his brain is wired differently and he'll always have to work so much more than the others to read not even as well as they can. But when he reads books to Nina, it doesn't matter at all. He doesn't even have to read the actual words. He can tell any story he wants. Often he tells her his best stories, the ones about Dominican beaches and a sun that lasts all year and the blue of the waters, the scent of salt in the air. Sometimes he tells her what he knows about Puerto Rico but that's not as much as DR. And sometimes Nina pretends to read the books for him herself. And it really doesn't matter that he can't read right, because neither can she, and her babbled little stories that don't even have words are always the best.

 

2

 

Usnavi's dad and Mr Rosario love to laugh together that Nina has Usnavi wrapped around her little finger. Where she goes, he follows. She's only two but she already knows exactly what she wants. Usnavi is only seven but he knows that he wants to give her everything. When her parents get tired of her walking around, Usnavi always volunteers to look after her, the youngest babysitter they've found, and together Nina and him walk the block and he shows her everything he knows, as long as they don't turn the corner so their parents can keep an eye on them. There's so many people here in the Heights, from everywhere in the world, or at least everywhere in the Caribbeans, and Nina wants to greet them all, so Usnavi lets her stop every passerby, look at every window, pet every dog. Whatever she wants, she gets.

 

3

 

 

  

Usnavi always knew it in his heart and Señor Rosario always said the same but people are also starting to catch up on it now. There is something very, very special about Nina. Usnavi says she's magic, like a little fairy, but the grown-ups call it "gifted". There is nothing you teach her that she won't understand. She knows her alphabet better than him, all the state capitals, she knows why the sky is blue and the Hudson gray. Usnavi tells everybody about her. One day everyone will know her name, so he might as well tell them now.

 

4

 

Every day, Abuela Claudia and Nina come pick Usnavi from school and they walk back to Abuela Claudia's apartment that smells like Fabuloso and fresh coffee. Abuela makes sure Usnavi does his homework while Nina is allowed to play quietly, but that's never been for her. Quiet, sure, but she wants to learn. Usnavi completes his homework − slowly but surely − and whenever he's done with a page, he hands it over to Nina for close inspection and revision. She can read almost as well as he can now, soon better. Abuela Claudia says she's the smartest little girl in the world and some day she's going to be their star. Usnavi knows it's only a matter of time.

 

5

 

Sometimes, Nina is too smart for her own good. That's what the grown-ups call it. Usnavi thinks she's too smart for _his_ own good. They're having a snow fight in Bennett Park with all their friends, Benny and Oscar and José and Nina and her best friend Vanessa, and all the little kids from the 183rd. Señorita Daniela is watching them from a bench − more accurately, she's reading a fashion magazine, smoking a cigarette and pretending she's not linked to those kids in any way, but secretly actually watching them. It's cold and there's one foot of snow and Usnavi thought Nina was on his side but after a tackle attack on him by her and Vanessa, he's not so sure. She's becoming way too cunning for him. To make herself forgiven for tricking Usnavi into his ultimate demise in the snow fight, Nina persuades Daniela into buying all of them hot chocolate and Usnavi has forgotten the slight already.

 

6

 

Usnavi thought all little children would be like Nina. She's always been nice and quiet and polite, but his cousin Sonia straight from DR is loud and messy and dumb and he hates that his parents pay less attention to him now that she's here and sharing a room with him far too often. Nina tries to make them get along, breach the distance between them, but secretly Usnavi wishes Nina were his cousin and not Sonia. Maybe if he treats her like one, everyone will agree that Nina is a much better cousin and they will send Sonia back to DR.

 

7

 

Nina runs into the bodega, an excited grin on her face, and drags Usnavi outside secretively. He's about to ask what makes her so happy when she flat out tells him. In Spanish. Usnavi can't believe his ears. Nina has never spoken Spanish, not with him, not with Abuela, not with her parents, but apparently she has been learning with Daniela as a surprise for everyone. Usnavi is beyond himself in joy and can't help rambling about how proud he is but he soon realizes that Nina has stopped following his happy chippering and is on the verge of tears. He apologizes for making her sad, gives her a big hug and tries to tone down his Dominican speed the next time she dares to speak Spanish in his presence.

 

8

 

There is an emptiness inside Usnavi left by his parents. He dreams of his mamí pinching his cheek, of his papí hugging him, and he wakes up in Abuela's guest room with tears in his eyes. It's going to be Christmas and Nina brought him homemade cookies. She doesn't talk and for that, Usnavi is grateful. There is nothing anyone can say and they know it, and he's not sure he can be polite enough to accept whatever they'd try to tell him. She sits with him on the sofa and they eat up all the cookies together. There's a movie in the background but Usnavi doesn't even register it. She comes back again the next day, and the next, and all days after that until Usnavi is able to smile when he opens the door to find her.

 

9

 

Out of the blue, Nina asks Usnavi if he's ever kissed a girl. Usnavi's blood turns cold and he wonders if anyone has been gossiping about that one time he made out with Benny's ex girlfriend Lisa in the alley street behind the bodega the other day. Has she told anyone? Is she making fun of him behind his back? It was his first kiss, she can't have expected him to be as good as Benny, not on his first kiss. But when, horrified, he asks Nina what she heard and where she heard it from, she asks him what he means and says she was only asking because Vanessa said she kissed Tommy Romero the other day and she was wondering if Usnavi had also kissed someone before. He shuts his mouth and tells her she shouldn't be thinking about kissing, ever, because it's not for children.

 

10

 

Kevin loves to claim that, when she's older, Nina will find herself the hardest working man in Upper Manhattan, but that even then, he still might not give that man his daughter's hand. Usnavi laughs nervously while Nina groans and rolls her eyes, but the last straw is when Kevin jokes that maybe she should get with Usnavi, fifteen and already handling his own business. Usnavi gets too uncomfortable, so much so that it must have shown on his face because Kevin slaps his back reassuringly and tells him there's many more years till they close the deal. After he's left, Nina makes Usnavi promise he's never going to ask for her hand. He is all too happy to promise it.

 

11

 

Usnavi learns two things about his cousin. He's a boy now, or he was always one, Usnavi isn't sure, but he just listens and goes along with what Sonny says. And also, Sonny likes Nina. That, Usnavi is sure of and he understands. Nina is smart and kind and he may not think of her that way but she is kind of pretty. Sonny loves her, talks about her all the time. To Usnavi, it's obvious he has no chance, even if he's a boy. Nina is in middle school now, she's too busy for little boys' crushes. But Sonny is sensitive so Usnavi says nothing.

 

12

 

Bodega workers know things no one else does, Usnavi is convinced. Aside from the gossip there is something about knowing what people buy. With Nina, there are no surprises. Coffee in the morning, one cream and two sugars, and another cup after school, or after her special clubs and after-school classes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Snacks, the fruity type, or granola bars, rarely a slushee when she's with a friend. Sometimes errands for her parents, because she's a kind and obedient daughter. But the box of tampons she slides onto the counter, an embarrassed pink blush across her cheeks, that can't be for Camila, a pad girl per her purchase history here. Nina is shy about it, Usnavi isn't. You can't afford to be too squeamish if you have customers to keep. She pays and sprints away. Growing up before their eyes, a young woman now. He feels like an abuelo for a second, but shakes his head and greets the next customer.

 

13

 

Nina falls deep into the Harry Potter hole and drags everybody with her. She shoves the books into Sonny's hands, her parents', her friend Vanessa's and even Usnavi's. He reads them between two customers and everyday after school, Nina checks on his progress, shares her analysis of what he's just read, offers hypotheses and parallels. He says he thinks she would be in Ravenclaw, she agrees and thinks he would be in Hufflepuff. She prefers Hermione, of course she does, and he likes Ron and Molly. They remind him a little bit of him and Abuela Claudia. But he thinks that if magic was real, Nina would probably be the brightest witch of her age and he would be a Squib.

 

14

 

Against his better judgment, Usnavi agrees to work out with Benny. They run around the block and when he thinks that they must be done, because he cannot possibly have any energy left in his body, Benny says that this is a great beginning. It's like every time he wants to stop, there's a whole new regimen of exercises that Usnavi cannot possibly follow through. The worst part is that they're in a public park and right there on that bench there's Nina and her friend eying them and Usnavi cannot believe that she is here to witness him enviously watch Benny do ten push-ups, a hundred, and all sorts of things that Usnavi doesn't even know the name of, just that his body cannot possibly bend that way. The next morning, he has sore muscles that he never even knew existed and Nina is once again there at the exactly wrong place as she enters the bodega just when Usnavi gets Sonny to rub his back for him. He doesn't hear the end of it for weeks.

 

15

 

A lovely blue dress, make-up done at the salon like a Hollywood star, along with an elegant bun, a jeweled tiara: Nina has never looked more like a princess in all the years Usnavi has known her. She's fifteen, and apparently this means she's a woman to the eyes of the world. To Usnavi, she is still the same awesome Nina as she was yesterday, only today she's dancing and partying with everyone she knows. Abuela Claudia insists on him taking hundreds of pictures for her albums and the mantelpiece at home. The only break he takes is to get a dance from her, and even then, Kevin is watching and she goes back to Vanessa's arms soon after. The next week, when Abuela Claudia has dedicated a veritable altar to her at home, Nina gets embarrassed but the pictures stay on where they are, dusted every morning. They're here to stay.

 

16

 

Nina may be almost grown-up, a young woman now, but she still comes visit Abuela after school like she has since she was a little baby girl. Usually, Usnavi loves to come home to her when he hands over his shift to his aunt, but today was his twenty-first birthday, the beginning of it at least, and he's heading home to nap and rest before the rest of it tonight, and he has never felt less fresh in his life. Benny is going to actually kill him dead some day. The all-day party was his idea. Usnavi pretends that everything's fine, that he hasn't just been downing beer after beer now that he supposedly can (but should he?), and for a second he almost believes Nina hasn't noticed anything, but on her way out she whispers in his ear that just because she can't drink doesn't mean she doesn't know the smell of alcohol, and that he should probably take a shower before the rest of the party. Sheepishly, he obeys.

 

17

 

When Benny kind of likes a girl, he tells Usnavi all about her and how cute she is. When Benny _really_ likes a girl, he says absolutely nothing and he hasn't said a word about Nina at all in weeks. Usnavi has his little birds, and above all he has himself, not spying on purpose but he does run a bodega and you hear and see things in here. And Benny is not the only one with a secret. By accident or through thorough planning, Nina never misses Benny in the morning and her smiles and jokes for him are nothing Usnavi has seen before. There is something going on, but hopefully nothing going on, because Nina is too young yet. But then Vanessa's smiles and her hair and her eyes and the thoughts that keep bothering him at night convince Usnavi that he doesn't have a word to say to Benny.

 

18

 

Abuela Claudia never learned to write, but Usnavi writes for the both of them, even to Nina out there across the country. She dictates the recipes and he writes them down as carefully as he can. Writing never came easy to him, even the registry at the bodega full of mistakes and words crossed out. At his shop, he asks Sonny to handle it, but for Nina, he makes every effort himself. They're recipes he knows by heart anyways, comfort food that Abuela Claudia makes him when he's feeling a little bit too sad, a little bit blue. He hopes they'll help Nina just the same.

 

19

 

Abuela Claudia doesn't write recipes anymore, or maybe she's writing the world's best recipe book from heaven. She's in Usnavi's memories every day, even when he's happy, even when he's the happiest. On those nights when he's all on his own at home, he thinks about her even more and it's a little bit harder to feel happy in an empty home with an empty room that no one will ever move into. He traces every printed letter of her old recipes she got from her mom, Mamá as his own parents called her. On a whim, he rubs tears from his eyes, picks up a pen and copies down every recipe he can get his hands on. He's not sure which ones Nina has received already, so he writes down every single one of them, makes a neat little bundle out of them and sends it to Stanford. Nina gives an extra tight hug the next time he sees her, face wet against his neck, and he knows the recipes were put to good use.

 

20

 

Usnavi thought he knew Nina. He still thinks that, but there are pictures of her that he has never seen in his life in Vanessa's albums. They're old, photos from childhood, even as babies, back when Nina was the most important person in his world along with his parents and Abuela Claudia. They're gone now, Nina and Sonny all he has left, but he has Vanessa too now and together they browse the albums. She tells him stories about Nina, how inseparable they've been since the day they were born, the eternal three days between them, how they used to share a crib and a bed, and their clothes and toys and games. In the back of his mind, he hopes that maybe their children and Benny and Nina's will be the exact picture of their mothers, but Vanessa is twenty and the most beautiful woman in the world and he does not want to frighten her away.

 

21

 

Vanessa and Nina's birthdays are in June but they wait a month to celebrate it, twenty-one and officially allowed to drink. Of course, Vanessa has had her first taste long ago, but she never likes the taste of alcohol, or maybe seeing her mom taught her to be wary of it. Nina, however... Nina was supposed to never have drunk a sip before tonight but Benny hands her the first official shot she's allowed to drink, an adult now, and she downs it in one gulp, albeit coughing a little bit at how strong it is. Usnavi's mouth gaps open but Nina rolls her eyes and says that she's a college student and he can't possibly have thought that she had never tasted alcohol before. He closes his mouth and frowns, and goes to drink his own little beer in his corner with his cousin who, god willing, does not partake in underage drinking.

 

22

 

Everyone is missing Nina, but no one more than Benny. He wears his Stanford sweater pretty much every day now − Usnavi suspects he owns more than one. If they're not on the phone, they're texting, and Usnavi doesn't even want to think about how they communicate in the confines of their own rooms. Benny says they'll get a nice little apartment of their own when she moves back home, some new place that's bigger than his studio, a bright and comfortable place to make their own. He already bought them a dog, who he called Kevin, maybe as a joke, but Usnavi doesn't have the guts to ask. He loses his mind when it comes to Nina. And she is no better, Vanessa tells him, already gushing about how pretty their children are going to be if they look like Benny. If he's honest about it, Usnavi loves hearing from both of them, loves knowing that they're happy together and will be even more so once they're reunited.

 

23

 

Nina's graduation is an all day party. The ceremony is lovely, so much so he takes every picture he can so he keeps the memories in his albums. The Rosarios are beaming, Benny's arm hasn't left Nina's shoulder or waist all day, even in front of Kevin, and Vanessa can't stop smiling. They've already called everyone back home, Sonny first, who was so sorry he couldn't come but had to prioritize his finals. Usnavi gets to hold the diploma and it's just one piece of paper of course, but it's so much more than that. Right there in his hands, the proof that someone from the Heights can go to Stanford and show them all what a Nuyorican is capable of. It's not just the Rosarios who are proud of her, it's everyone, her family, her extended family, her whole city of you ask him. She's done them proud today.

 

24

 

Usnavi feels tears welling up in his eyes as Nina walks down the aisle towards him and Benny. No one has ever seen a more beautiful bride, topped only, maybe, by her beaming bridesmaid. Vanessa winks at him and he feels himself blushing. Benny looks completely starstruck from start to finish and Usnavi swears his eyes don't lose their glint of love and admiration all night, holding the promise of a lifetime of care and dedication. Nina and Benny slow dance even through the lively music of the celebrations, until Usnavi manages to sneak a dance with her to tell her how proud he is. He swears she was just a little baby in his arms yesterday, but now her own belly is swelling up her wedding dress (there was gossip around the church and the ballroom, the dress tighter than it was supposed to be, but Daniela swore it was all in teasing love). She's someone's wife now and she'll be a mom soon. He wishes Abuela were here to see it but in his heart, he knows she hasn't missed a second of it from up there.

 

25

 

One day, Nina has a beautiful round belly, so big she hasn't seen her feet in months. The next, they get a text from Benny and Vanessa has to physically hold Usnavi back so he doesn't rush to the hospital. It's just for family, she says, they'll tell us when we can go. _I am family_ , Usnavi retorts but he stays home and waits for the second text. Hours pass painfully knowing that a little baby is going to be born any time now and finally, _finally_ , the phone rings and Benny announces she's here. A ride to the hospital later, much too fast but not nearly fast enough, and Usnavi gets to see the curl of her hair, the soft, soft skin still red from being born, the little fists clenched up in the toy he carefully places beside her. He feels the promise of tears in his eyes, but then Nina tells him her name. Claudia. Claudita. And the tears run freely.

 

26

 

Sonny is a handsome groom, all tailored in a new suit, hair done, beard groomed. Pete is……… alright. Usnavi was his baby cousin's best man, thank god, to keep an eye on him and Sonny only made three jokes during his vows. _Fine_. Usnavi was originally nervous and maybe a little bit upset when Sonny announced his impromptu impeding wedding but the way he smiles at his new husband, the way they whisper at each other on the dance floor like the rest of the attendance has disappeared and there's only them, Usnavi thinks they'll be just fine. He just feels so much older than he was before, just watching them. Nina plops down next to him to check how he's doing, her eyes glistening with pride. She promises he'll be next. Usnavi looks back over at the dance floor where Vanessa stole Sonny from Pete's arms in the meantime and is taking a dance from him now. He feels his stomach churning with anxiety and anticipation, and he hopes Nina is right. He really does.

 

27

 

Usnavi is allowed at the hospital for the birth of Nina's second child. Not in the delivery room, of course, that's for Benny and Camila only and Usnavi has no desire to see Nina in that intimate position, but he stays in the hall with Claudia, keeps her entertained, talks to her in Spanish. The hours cannot pass soon enough but eventually, it's time to call Vanessa and meet the new baby together, a little boy. Usnavi is present when everyone visits him and all their friends have something nice to say, but out of them all, Daniela is probably the most interesting visit. Benny and Nina smile at each other before asking her if she wants to hold her godchild, little Daniel, and Daniela may pretend all she wants that she is not crying, that it's just the heat, but it's November and everyone sees and pretends that they don't know.

 

28

 

The day of his wedding, Usnavi only wanted one dance, just one for Vanessa, the most gorgeous bride in the world with her tight dress that he swears can't have been bought this snug around the chest but who is he to complain if his _wife_ has a nice decollete? His heart hasn't stopped drumming since the morning, or if he is honest with himself, since Vanessa proposed two months ago. All he wanted was to get his dance from his bride, then watch her dance all night long with better partners than him and sit back and enjoy. But when Nina taps on his shoulder and drags him to the dance floor, he just cannot refuse her, he never could. Her dress had to be tailored special again and he jokes that there has to be a rule she must be pregnant at every wedding. She laughs and promises she never planned to steal the spotlight. Usnavi catches Vanessa's eyes who blows him a kiss and he reassures Nina that she isn't stealing any spotlight at all.

 

29

 

Nina and Benny help them move into their new, bigger apartment, which means Benny moves the boxes, Nina has it all planned out and tells him where to put them, Vanessa lies on the newly installed sofa and Usnavi periodically serves her fresh drinks. Vanessa got a big promotion recently, supervising a whole floor at the fashion house, and they can afford a much better place. It's bigger, brighter, and there is an extra room and Usnavi feels he is allowed to hope just for a second. A whole day of watching Benny do the work on his own and at night it's just Usnavi and Vanessa in their new home, so wonderfully lovely. Usnavi takes one last tour before bed and there is an extra box in the extra room. He is about to call and tease Nina, one box going off the tracks of her master plan, but he checks the inside and when he sees the baby clothes, he knows this box was put exactly where Nina wanted it.

 

 

30

 

Nina is pregnant for the fourth time. Usnavi bursts with joy, just as much as the first, second, third times, but apparently he must have shown something else on his face also, because Nina visits him the next day, just the two of them. She's that good, of course, and has always been able to read him like an open book, try as he might to be polite and push everything down. And even though she does it so kindly, she asks the right questions. Is he truly happy not having children? Does he want to talk about it? The truth is that Vanessa and him have talked about it before. She's not entirely averse to the idea, especially not with their new place, the stability they've reached, but besides a couple conversations, they've never discussed the timing of it, the realness, and Usnavi doesn't even know for sure if she's off birth control. If it happens, it'll happen, he tells Nina. And if it doesn't, well, he swore to be with Vanessa for better or for worse and nothing will ever make him go back on it. The very idea of having a child is appealing to him _because_ it would be something beautiful they would create together. Nina smiles and holds his hand gently, and he knows that this is exactly how she feels about Benny and her own family. He hopes he can know the reality of it for himself some day. Maybe it's time for another conversation with Vanessa.

 

31

 

The first time he does it, Benny and Nina let it go and laugh it off. The second time, they _tssk_ and shake their heads. The third time, Usnavi gets a strong word, but still only just a slap on the wrist. Benny and Nina are not happy, though. He is not allowed anymore to go pick up Nina's little ones from school and daycare without even telling her first, to bring them to the bodega and give them free snacks and a slushee for all of them, except Alma who likes coffee better, while Nina is apparently worried sick when she arrives at school and is told her children aren't there. And they're not supposed to eat that much sugar anyways. And Claudia and Daniel have after-school activities that are not "hanging out at the De la Vega Bodega". So be it. Usnavi now shoots her a text first, before doing it anyways.

 

32

 

Nina barges into the bodega all excited, says she has a huge piece of news. Usnavi also has a little tidbit he's been sitting on, a little tiny something that for the first time, he is allowed to mention to everyone today, Vanessa said this morning, three months to the day. She will want to tell Nina herself, though, so Usnavi shuts his mouth and lets Nina go first, and when she tells him that Benny and her are expecting another baby, Usnavi's heart pangs with joy and he blurts out that Vanessa is pregnant too. Nina's mouth drops open and it's a few seconds before she squees in joy and hugs Usnavi tighter than he's ever been hugged in his life. She says she's only a little bit mad that he let her go first when he had something this important to tell, and he'll have to name her the godmother of the child to make himself forgiven. He is all too eager to accept. It was the plan anyways.

 

33

 

They say babies are loud and smelly, but Claudia García De la Vega is soft, smells like the most expensive flower bunch in the world, and feels like a piece of heaven that contains all of Abuela Claudia's love fell down to bless Usnavi's family and fill the world with sweetness from Nueva York to DR. Claudita is gorgeous, as pretty as Vanessa, although everyone says she looks more like Usnavi. She's a little bit fussy, but never with him, and not with Nina either. She's in the same hospital room as Vanessa, their two little girls deciding to show up in the world at the same time. Usnavi can feel that his little baby is going to be friends with all of Nina's, and probably everyone in New York as well. Benny brings over the four older kids and after admiring their new sister, all of them already love Claudita and accept her, their new little cousin, and the big family they all make is altogether too much perfection for Usnavi.


End file.
